Enablers and Disablers for Contactless Payment Acceptance among Malaysian Adults

Contactless payments, using technologies like Near Field Communication (NFC), are gaining traction globally, but adoption in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, has been slower than in other regions. While awareness of contactless cards is high (95%), usage lags behind (65%). The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift towards contactless payments due to safety concerns and the rise of e-wallets such as GrabPay, Touch n Go, and Boost. Despite government promotion, resistance remains. This study aims to identify the key enablers and disablers of contactless payment acceptance among Malaysians. Existing research often utilizes Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and its extensions, but personality trait-based models like the Technology Readiness Index (TRI) are under-researched in this context. Factors like performance expectations, social influence, convenience, privacy, and perceived risks have been explored, but others, including status, fun, and enjoyment, require further investigation. This study, therefore, develops a Contactless Payment Acceptance Model (CPAM) integrating UTAUT2 and TRI 2.0 to comprehensively examine these factors.

Existing literature on contactless payment adoption frequently employs the TAM, which emphasizes perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use as key drivers of user acceptance. UTAUT and its extension, UTAUT2, offer a more comprehensive framework by incorporating performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, price value, and habit. However, personality-based models like TRI 1.0 and TRI 2.0, which focus on optimism, innovativeness, discomfort, and insecurity, are less commonly applied to contactless payments. This study leverages UTAUT2 and TRI 2.0 as the foundation for CPAM, augmenting them with additional factors identified in previous research, such as lack of awareness, compatibility, and status symbols. The literature review highlights the need for a holistic model that considers both enabling and disabling factors, and addresses the gaps in existing research by incorporating under-researched factors.

This cross-sectional study utilized a convenience sampling method to collect data from 434 Malaysian adults aged 18–64 via online questionnaires distributed through email and social media platforms. The sample size was determined using G*Power software. The questionnaire included sections on demographics (age, gender, education, income, frequency of contactless payment use, and types of digital payment services used) and a four-point Likert scale to measure perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, optimism, compatibility, enjoyment, status symbol, innovativeness, lack of awareness, discomfort, and perceived insecurity. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics (SPSS 27) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using IBM SPSS AMOS 25 to evaluate the CPAM. Reliability and validity assessments, including Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, average variance extracted, and Fornell-Larcker criterion, were conducted to ensure the model's robustness. Goodness-of-fit indices (χ²/df, CFI, GFI, RMSEA, SRMR) were used to assess the overall model fit.

After excluding innovativeness and perceived insecurity due to low factor loadings, SEM analysis revealed that the CPAM model had an R-squared value of 71.2%. Four factors significantly influenced contactless payment acceptance: perceived ease of use (β = 2.06, p < 0.001), perceived usefulness (β = 2.64, p < 0.001), lack of awareness (β = -0.33, p = 0.008), and discomfort (β = -0.43, p < 0.001). Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use demonstrated positive relationships with contactless payment acceptance, aligning with previous research highlighting the importance of convenience and efficiency. Lack of awareness and discomfort exhibited negative relationships, suggesting that a lack of knowledge about contactless payment options and concerns about the technology's complexity hinder adoption. Other factors (optimism, compatibility, enjoyment, status symbol) were found to be insignificant in this study. The findings underscore the need for intuitive and user-friendly contactless payment systems and targeted awareness campaigns to overcome existing barriers.

The study’s findings directly address the research question by identifying the key enablers and disablers of contactless payment acceptance among Malaysian adults. The significant influence of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness reinforces the importance of user-friendly design and clear communication of benefits. The significant negative influence of lack of awareness highlights the need for targeted educational campaigns. Addressing discomfort, stemming from perceived complexity or security concerns, is also crucial. The insignificance of factors like status symbol contrasts some prior studies, possibly due to the increasing accessibility and ubiquity of contactless payments. This implies that marketing strategies need to focus on practicality and convenience rather than on aspirational value. The study’s robust model (R-squared = 71.2%) enhances the understanding of contactless payment acceptance and provides valuable insights for policymakers, service providers, and researchers.

This study provides a valuable contribution to the understanding of contactless payment acceptance in Malaysia. The CPAM model effectively explains a significant portion of the variance in acceptance behavior, highlighting the crucial role of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, lack of awareness, and discomfort. Future research should address the limitations of this study by using a more representative sample, exploring alternative data collection methods, and investigating the influence of excluded factors more thoroughly. Further research could also explore the role of government policies and infrastructure development in promoting wider adoption of contactless payment systems.

This study's limitations include the use of convenience sampling, which may have resulted in a sample that is not fully representative of the Malaysian population. The reliance on self-reported data through online questionnaires also raises concerns about potential social desirability bias. Furthermore, the exclusion of several factors from the UTAUT2 model and the low factor loadings for innovativeness and perceived insecurity might limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research should address these limitations by employing more diverse sampling techniques and incorporating other relevant factors.